Lane Kim
Lane Kim is a principal character on Gilmore Girls. She is portrayed by Keiko Agena. Character Lane is Stars Hollow's resident music lover. Lane is seen toting what she refers to as the Mojo bible of music around, aiming to procure every last record in it. Due to her family's strict religious adherence, Lane is a master of ingenuity, successfully executing various schemes to procure the aforementioned tunes – often with the help of her childhood best friend, Rory. Lane leads a double life, hidding all evidence of her American lifestyle such as rock CDs, make-up, and forbidden clothing under her floorboards, in her closet, and under the mattress in her bedroom. Lane once impulsively dyed her hair purple to rebel against her mother, but quickly panicked over what her mother would think and dyed it black again.One's Got Class and the Other One Dyes The presence of her father, Mr. Kim, is something that is debated among fans, with Lane often referring to her "parents", especially in the earlier seasons, but Mr. Kim never appearing on the series. Story When Lane is first introduced, she is in full-fledged secret rebellion lifestyle mode, eating pizza and wearing band shirts when hanging out with Lorelai and Rory, singing Christian hymns and living off tofu in bulk at the Kim house. Even as Rory departs Stars Hollow High to attend Chilton, Lane is content living her double life with a strict home life. All the same, Lane is sometimes unable to participate in fun activities, such as going to see the Bangles in New York with the Gilmore Girls, and her rebellious acts become bigger over time, mostly starting when she meets a Korean guy, Henry, at Madeline's Chilton party and attempts to date him in secret. Henry eventually breaks up with Lane, before they even go out, due to maneuvering necessary to see/talk to each other, leaving Lane devastated. Rory and Lane's friendship also hits a bump when Dean comes between them, as Rory gets a bit of tunnel vision when she and Dean first start dating. When a music shop opens in town, Lane quickly discovers her love of drumming and devotes all of her time and energy to perfect her art, convincing Sophie, the shopkeeper, to let her practice in the dark after hours. Lane studiously selects the perfect sample of bands for a flyer and meets Dave Rygalski, a guitarist with his own band looking for a drummer. Their first encounter is a meet cute and they soon develop feelings for one another. From her past experience, Lane expects that Dave, too, will be overwhelmed by the effort it takes to date Mrs. Kim's daughter, but Dave persists through everything to convince Mrs. Kim to let him be with Lane. The band starts rehearsing in Lorelai's garage and Lane spends most of her time on this, when not at school. She and Dave go to their Senior Prom together, but their romance is short lived as Dave leaves for college in California. While they attempt long-distance, their relationship fades. After Dave left, Lane attended a Seventh-day Adventist college, at her mother's request, until Lane and her band (Dave now replaced in the band by Gil) had a gig at a club in New York at two in the morning. Unable to come up with an alibi acceptable to Mrs. Kim, Lane instead snuck out of the house. Mrs. Kim realized Lane was gone and later led to the inevitable confrontation between Lane and her mother (once Mrs. Kim ransacked Lane's bedroom and found all the hidden clothes, CDs and make up). Mrs. Kim kicked Lane out. After a few weeks of playing house-keeper for Rory and her Yale dorm mates in exchange for accommodations, Lane decided to move into a rental house with her band mates, Zack and Brian. While living with the two of them, she continued to work as a waitress at Luke's. She didn't return to the Seventh-day Adventist college. Relationships Rory Gilmore Their friendship began in kindergarten when Lane offered to share her crayons, and continued over the course of seven seasons. It endured even after Rory left Stars Hollow High to attend Chilton and then moved to Yale. They have been best friends since age four or five. Romances Henry Cho Lane and Henry met at a Chilton party, which Lane attended with Rory after Dean had broken up with her. Although initially put off by the thought of a boy her parents might approve of, Lane was charmed by Henry and gave him her number. The two had many phone conversations (via Rory) and planned on going on a date, but never made it that far as Lane had trouble being honest with Mrs. Kim. Henry really liked Lane, but was put off by Lane putting off coming clean about their budding relationship to her parents and Henry ended it over the phone, telling Lane he had asked another girl to accompany him to prom, leaving Lane heartbroken – and grounded. Dave Rygalski Mrs. Kim sets Lane up with a Korean relative named Yiung Chui, and he is used as a cover-up boyfriend during her relationship with Dave, and he ends up falling in love with her. However, Lane is not interested because she loves Dave. Lane's next relationship was with Dave Rygalski (Adam Brody). He came into her life after Lane posted a 'Drummer seeks Band' notice, eventually forming Hep Alien with Dave, Zack and Brian. Again, the relationship had to be a secret from Mrs. Kim, as Dave was not a desirable match, being neither Korean nor possessing a desire to become a doctor. Mrs. Kim had repeatedly tried to set Lane up with potential young Korean doctors in the hope of one sticking, so to speak. Unlike Henry, Dave was willing to keep their relationship a secret while setting up the illusion that he and Lane met when she discovered his guitar-player flyer at church. Mrs. Kim used his services several times, and she even let him sit in their pew at church (which is a big deal for Mrs. Kim). Lane wants Dave to be the boy to take her to the prom, and she believes in Dave gets in this way, Mrs. Kim will already like him enough to bend her rules. However, Lane grows impatient, and she gets drunk at a party in 3.19. She calls her mother, tells her she's in a band, loves Dave, and want to go to prom with him. Mrs. Kim gives Lane a cold shoulder until Dave unexpectedly shows up at their house, and says he wants to take Lane to the prom. Mrs. Kim eventually agrees, but Lane will be grounded before and after the prom. Dave takes Lane to the prom, and they have a great time with Lane taking over 300 photos of the evening. However, Dave later moves to California to go to college. It is assumed they speak over the phone, but their relationships fades away. Zack Van Gerbig A while after Dave and Lane break off their long-distance relationship, Lane realises that Zack's groupie enthusiasm annoys her beyond a general feminist irk. She has a freak-out at Zack and two of his flings, one of whom apologises and Lane has to start dealing with the notion that she has developed real feelings for Zack. Trivia *Lane serves as a parallel of Lorelai. They have controlling mothers and distant fathers; also, their parents' visions for their lives don't turn out as expected. They have children young (Lorelai at 16, Lane at 22) and are a treasured part of Stars Hollow. Despite their upbringing, their lives turn for the better, and their relationship with their parents do as well because they're finally allowed to be themselves. *The house she grew up in is located on Elm (Street) in Stars Hollow. *Lane sometimes chills in a psychedelic closet, with disco lights and colorful blankets.The Deer Hunters *She has a huge CD collection, which is hidden under her bedroom's floorboards. Lane is also knowledgeable and opinionated about music, with rock and roll being a particular favorite. *Lane's music collectionLane's music collection is first seen – That Damn Donna Reed, hidden underneath floorboards, is classified in genres':' **classic rock/progressive rock/pretty boy rock, punk/new wave/german metal bands/broadway soundtracks, jazz/jazz vocals/classical/country/rockabilly/Frank Sinatra (The Capitol Years), and then last section, miscellanous. *Lane's first real boyfriend and bandmate was Dave Rygalski, where they bonded over having mutual music tastes. Lane is wearing a Dead Kennedys shirt when she meets Dave.Application Anxiety *She has an aunt, whose name is Joon, and a cousin, whose name is Christine. *She has an uncle, Joe, who is around her age. This led to Zack thinking that Mrs. Kim had set her up with him.Just Like Gwen and Gavin *When she went to Adventist college, there were two parks (one for each gender). They also allowed makeup as long as it matched one's skin tone exactly. She considered her life to be over. She got in trouble once for wearing a bracelet to school. *At one point, she became a cheerleader because she was lonely from Rory being too busy with school and Dean to spend more time with her. *She was in the school band. According to her, her band uniform looked like something out of Sergeant Pepper's band. *Rory became her friend in kindergarten. *Lane asked Rory to be her children's godmother after stating that they needed "a Lorelai" in their life like she had one (in Rory's mother). *Her mom was constantly on a health kick, and would make extremely healthy and unappetizing meals; Rory would supply her with junk food because of this. *Cleverly utilises complex ruses to subvert her Mother's overly strict rules, enabling her to see her friends, boyfriends, watch TV, own and listen to music, play in the band, dress like a normal teenager, wear makeup and eat junk food. *Lane prefers her soda flat, rather than carbonated. *Her parents tried to set her up with multiple boys throughout the show. The potential suitors include a future proctologist, pediatrician, minister, and chiropractor. *Her first crush was Henry Cho, a boy at Chilton who she met at Louise's party. He was everything her parents wanted for her (Korean, respectful, counselor at Vacation Bible School, future pediatrician), and because of that she was hesitant to act on her feelings.The Breakup, Part 2 When her mother learns of this, she considers talking to his family, but Lane believes it would be no use.A-Tisket, A-Tasket *Lane's relationship with Lorelai is a positive one; she went to Lorelai when she had boy issues and when she had issues with her own mother. *Her Korean name is Hyun-Kyung.Sadie, Sadie... *She had a high aptitude for sales according to a high school career placement test.Back in the Saddle Again *Her family has Sing-Your-Favorite-Hymn nights.Kiss and Tell *She is at least proficient in Korean; when she goes off on a forbidden date, her mother scolds her in Korean and she responds correctly. Moreso, when her parents send her off to Korea, she leaves Rory with a list of crucial Korean phrases written in Korean and with English transliterations. *She has more in common with her mother than she likes to let on; they were both in bands (her mother was in a tambourine band and even went on tour), and they both kept things from their mothers. However, while Lane kept her love for music and American secular culture under wraps, her mother kept their Adventist leanings hidden from her strict Buddhist mother.I Get A Sidekick Out of You *She has family in Busan, South Korea, whom she stays with for a summer when she was in high school.Hammers and Veils Media :The Importance of Lane (BUZZFEED • OCTOBER 2015) Photos :Lane Kim/Gallery Notes and references }} Category:Main Characters